New Volunteer Center Representative Elected to IAVE Board

Wendy Osborne, Director of the Volunteer Development Agency for Northern Ireland, has been elected to the IAVE Board of Directors to represent national volunteer centers.  This position became vacant on the retirement of Tan Chee Koon from Singapore and now has been filled by vote of  the board.

The Volunteer Development Agency is a national infrastructure organisation for the promotion, support and development of volunteering in Northern Ireland. Providing services that: raise awareness of and promote the benefits of volunteering; provide evidence and information about volunteering through research; develop and deliver training to ensure standards of good practice for involving/managing volunteers; inform policy agendas; organize Northern Ireland wide promotional campaigns such as Volunteers Week; and identify and respond to emerging needs in relation to volunteers and volunteering.

The Agency has embarked on an exciting 5 year project focusing on older people and volunteering and is leading Northern Ireland’s volunteer strategy for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. At a national policy level the organisation was instrumental in calling for the development of a volunteering strategy for Northern Ireland. Government has made a commitment to taking forward such a strategy and the consultation document has been produced with expectation that a strategy will be launched in the Spring of 2010. 

Wendy has served as chief executive officer since 1993.  During her tenure, the organization has grown from a staff complement of 3 to 33. The annual budget has grown from £103,000 to in this current financial year £3.1 million. The organization has a current funding relationship with four government departments, including administering funding to support volunteering, and has a successful track record of accessing funding to support the work from private trusts and through income generation.

She also has been active in a broad range of local, national and international efforts to promote and strengthen volunteering.  In 2000 she received an Order of the British Empire from Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of her services to volunteering.  In 2009 she received a Business in the Community Sieff Award for individuals based in the community who have best collaborated with business to benefit society.